When I introduce myself as a member of Rotaract, people give me blank looks. I tell them that we’re the U of T chapter of Rotary International. A couple more affectionate ‘ah’s’. I tell them that Rotaract, at it’s most basic form, is a club that is dedicated to our motto: Service Above Self. Bingo.

A U of T Rotaract member helping out at the Rotary Children's Christmas Party

Of course, there are many other clubs that are like us. Like those clubs, our goal is to provide a service to the community, both locally and internationally. What sets us apart is the support we get from the Rotary International family and our parents’ club, the Rotary Club of Toronto. Because of that, our club has internationally-supported opportunities such as international projects and conferences. There is also a commitment to help us development professionally as young adults. We organize events that allow members to network with professionals in their respective fields. Most of all, we aim to increase our knowledge and understanding of issues that are important in our community and provide a way for members to address the needs they have shown.

Members at a Rotary Children's Christmas Party

This year, Rotaract @ U of T has amazing some events and opportunities planned, including collaborative projects with organizations aimed to tackle homelessness, a Hart House lunch, a major event aimed to support Rotary’s efforts in ending polio, and various socials where you get to meet Rotarians and like-minded people in the GTA. In the past, we have participated in the Princess Margaret Run for the Cure, UNICEF Trick-Or-Treat Halloween Fundraising with the TTC, and Toronto Rotary’s annual Christmas parties for seniors and disabled children.

New members are always welcome to join us. The meeting commitment is twice a month – once every two weeks. Of course, if you want to be more than a regular member, we have a special opportunity this year. We are looking for members of the U of T community who would like to commit to being a executive member of our club. The deadline is September 5, 2011. The positions that are available include:

• Secretary
• Treasurer
• Community Service Director
• International Service Director
• Communications Director
• Youth Day Liaison
• Hart House 5-Buck Lunch Coordinator

If you have any questions about membership, meetings, or general inquiries about Rotaract and Rotary, visit our website or email us at rotaract@utoronto.ca.

Be a part of one of the largest service clubs in the world. Be part of the Rotary Family.

Post written by Wilson.

As global collaborations play an increasingly more prominent role in student culture, a student group based at the University of Toronto has been encouraging teamwork among graduate students across the country. Health Science Inquiry (HSI) is a Canada-wide student-run journal that was established in 2009 at U of T, and now has membership from over 10 Canadian universities. What sets this journal apart isn’t just its expansive Canadian membership (and being the only Canada-wide graduate student publication to date), but its ability to provide students with a platform to express their thoughts through commentary-based writing.

To date, the group has published two issues of its journal (June 2010, June 2011) and has developed partnerships with internationally recognized journals. Rather than publishing research-based articles, HSI publishes commentaries on a specific theme each year. In 2010, the H1N1 pandemic was selected as the topic of interest and 13 submissions were selected for publication. The journal also introduced a competition aspect by partnering with The Lancet Infectious Diseases, which ended up publishing one of the submissions as a Reflection and Reaction piece in an August 2010 issue of the journal.

The theme in 2011 was cancer, and a similar partnership was established with the Canadian Medical Association Journal, which has selected an HSI submission for publication in the upcoming fall journal. In addition, the 2011 issue was expanded to include an Artistic Images section, a News section and Dialogue Pieces.

This is certainly an exciting time for the journal, as it continues to grow and attract participation (from both students and faculty) at a national level. HSI is currently recruiting members for its 2011-2012 team, and an application package with full details on how to apply can found on the group’s website. If you’re a graduate student who’s interested in getting involved with a Canada-wide student publication, a peak at the application package is definitely encouraged. Available positions range from editorial-based positions to roles in layout and design.

The Blue Sky Solar Racing Team is a U of T Engineering student club that works to design, construct, and race solar powered vehicles to advance renewable energy technology and promote environmental awareness. Since 1997, the club has represented the university in biennial solar racing events around the world.

On August 7th, on University of Toronto grounds, the team will unveil its most recent project – the Blue Sky sixth generation solar car. The Blue Sky Solar Racing Team’s challenge was to build the fastest and safest solar racing car in the world. Over the past four years, more than 300 team members have participated in the project to complete the car that will be used to race this season. The team’s Mechanical and Fabrication division designed and manufactured the car’s aerobodies and chassis, among other components. The Electrical and Strategy division designed, built, programmed, and debugged all of the electronic components for the car, including the solar array and the wiring of the driver interface. The power management and mechanical systems were designed to maximize the efficiency of the car’s power usage. Finally, the team fabricated and assembled the vehicle’s components. The finished product is less than 5 metres long and 1.8 metres wide. It weighs about 200 kilograms (about 270 kilograms with a driver) and is powered by 1300 Watts of power. The car is expected to average approximately 80 kilometers per hour, with a top speed of 140 kilometers per hour.

One of Blue Sky's designs - the Cerulean.

In October, the team will travel to Australia to participate in the World Solar Challenge, in which they will drive their new car 3000km from Darwin to Adelaide.  The friendly competition will include student teams from more than 20 countries. This event celebrates educational and technical excellence while promoting a new generation of students to become involved in the development of sustainable transport.

Many students find balancing university student life tough in ordinary circumstances. For Blue Sky Team members, the responsibility of building a solar car, finding and managing funding and publicity, and managing the project’s personnel and deadlines makes balancing student life even tougher. For many, this means daily visits to the shop after classes, using ‘breaks’ from working on the car to do homework, and putting in many long weekends and late nights. However, as Business and Operations Manager Eric Ma says, ‘What sets us apart is our passion and dedication. While there will always be small failures, large complications and discouraging times, we always make it through because we can imagine ourselves in Australia, see the vehicle running smoothly, and see the end-result. I have every confidence that we have completed what set out to do: build one fantastic solar racing car. It is perhaps the best solar car ever made.’

To learn more about the Blue Sky Solar Racing Team and the unveiling of their new car, please visit blueskysolar.utoronto.ca or check out the team on Facebook.

While the author has altered, and added to, the original text, portions of this post have been taken directly from a press release distributed by the Blue Sky Solar Racing Team.

Post written in collaboration with Tian-Yuan Zhao.

Marshall McLuhan, an alumnus of our university, once stated that ‘the medium is the message’. But did you know that he was also a graduate of the same high school as Tian-Yuan Zhao, the founder of Tales of Harmonia? Amongst the many reasons Tian had for starting his own choir, the most important one stemmed from the knowledge that McLuhan had passed down. Tian felt that, because a choir is the medium whereby the message of a song is portrayed, it doesn’t matter if there’s variety within the genres of music that each choir at U of T specializes in. The only thing that matters is the medium – if, for example, jazz is the only genre of music performed by a choir, their performance can become stale. Tales of Harmonia intends on showcasing music from all genres. Its slogan is:

Whether it’s Accompanied or A Cappella, Arranged or Artistic, Occidental or Oriental, Sacred or Secular, as long as there’s a fire burning from deep within the song, we’ll be there to dish it!

Through practicing what they preach, Tales of Harmonia intends to generate a more personal, intimate, and special experience not only for their choral members, but for their audience.

Tales of Harmonia is a mixed 30-voice auditioned choir that aims not only to provide talented musicians with the opportunity to pursue excellence in music within a friendly, focused environment, but to do so alongside others who share the one other commonality that unites us as one – our collective power to geek* out about the various insanities of life.

*’Geek’: A person with a devotion to something in a way that places him or her outside the mainstream. This could be due to the intensity, depth, or subject of their interest. This definition is very broad but, because many of these interests have mainstream endorsement and acceptance, the inclusion of some genres as ‘geeky’ is heavily debated. Persons have been labelled, or have chosen to identify, as physics geeks, mathematics geeks, engineering geeks, sci-fi geeks, computer geeks, various science geeks, movie and film geeks (cinephiles), comic book geeks, theatre geeks, history geeks, music geeks, sport geeks, art geeks, philosophy geeks, literature geeks, historical re-enactment geeks, video game geeks, and role-play geeks. – Wikipedia

The group is built on the following tenets to provide all choral members with:
1) A more holistic musical experience.
2) A more heterogeneous (diverse) musical experience.
3) A geekier musical experience. In this context – ‘geeky’ isn’t a derogatory term as it refers to anything and everything from all mediums whereby art is expressed, such as movies, TV shows, books, anime, video games, math, history, engineering, and so on and so forth. I hope you get the gist.
4) A more ‘underground’ musical experience. While some songs are widely recognizable, most of the showcased songs are less popular amongst the masses. ToH’s repertoire draws from all genres.
5) A more innovative approach to musical groups as a whole. Now what does this mean? ToH not only intends on revolutionizing ‘what’ will be performed at concerts, but ‘how’ they’ll be performed as ToH intends on having multimedia concerts in the future, collaborating with other musical organizations as well as hoping to all ToH to grow into something more than just a choir into an entire musical/artistic experience for all who’s involved with it. Expect great things to come of this.

Tales of Harmonia dares to explore strange new worlds and to seek out new life and new Civilizations (I, II, III, IV, V, etc.). They boldly go where no choral ground has gone before. So join them for the ride – I assure you, you won’t ever regret it!

Here’s a sneak peek of the lists of songs ToH will be singing this year:

Star Wars – John Williams is the Man
Baba Yetu, Ipharadisi, and Parismaalase Lauluke
Nintendo A Cappella
Zelda Medley
Still Alive – Basix
I Will Derive
Rent
Pi Song
Avenue Q
5 Chinese Songs songs, including Jasmine Flower, Yellow River Cantata, and The Butterfly Lovers
3 Korean and 3 Japanese Folk songs
I Love the Whole Wide World
The Grand Fonic Hymn
Tshosholotza
The Legendary Sorcerer and Guiding Star
Le Ali Del Principio and To the End of the Journey of Glittering Stars
Zulu Mama
Les Misérables
Engineering Songs

Auditions for Tales of Harmonia will be held in the second or third week of September. One audition time/place has already been confirmed (September  12^th, 3PM, Bickersteth Room at Hart House), and another time/place has yet to be confirmed, but expect it to be in the Engineering Complex a day or two after the first day of auditions.

If you have any questions about the group, please don’t hesitate to email Tian-Yuan, check out their website at http://talesofharmonia.sa.utoronto.ca/ and/or check them out at the UTSU Clubs’ Fair, as well as the Engineering Clubs’ Fair.

Post written by Kamil Amir.

There is no better way to experience another culture than through its food. Food embodies all the best that a culture has to offer while appealing to the five senses and touching the heart in the most profound way. Nothing portrays goodwill and harmony better than the image of people from various cultures sitting together sharing and a meal, laughing and rejoicing in a celebration of understanding.

With that in mind, the University of Toronto Dinner Club (UTDinner) was created.

Imagine a book club, but more delicious.

The main goal of the club is to celebrate the University of Toronto’s cultural diversity by sharing various recipes and cooking styles from around the world. So far, UTDinner has organized cooking sessions featuring Malaysian, Kazakh, Japanese, Polish, Italian, Chinese, Korean, Turkish, Russian, Bosnian, French, Macedonian, Bangladeshi and Senegalese cuisines. The next event, planned for June 17, will feature Lithuanian food (see below for information).

At the meetings, members learn to cook dishes from around the world. These cooking lessons are taught by UTDinner members or special guests. Everyone then sits down together to enjoy the food. Yummy!

However, the benefits of the club go beyond the delicious food – UTDinner provides a great opportunity to make friends and learn about other cultures.

To learn more about UTDinner and their events, email Yayo or check out http://utdinner.herobo.com/. Your taste buds will dance with excitement!

Lithuanian Cooking Event

June 17, 2011 at 5PM (Location TBA)

A student of Lithuanian heritage will share her grandmother’s recipes.

Starters: Saltibarsciai (Cold Beet Soup) & Kugelis (Potato Pie)

Main: Cepelinai

Price: $10

Email Yayo to RSVP.

72 Hour Timeline. 5 Minutes max. 2 Words. 1 Ongoing Short Film Challenge.

Think you can make a film in three days? The Hart House Film Challenge is an ongoing short film contest. It gives students the chance to be creative, while offering an outlet for their films.  By indicating interest in a challenge, entrants are contacted through email on Friday with a particular genre as well as two words that must be included in their short films.  Contestants then upload their videos onto Youtube by the following Monday and their video is embedded onto the Hart House Film Challenge’s website.  Each month, a draw is held for entrants to win prizes. Past prizes have included movie passes to Bloor Cinema and advanced screening passes to films such as Unknown and Sucker Punch.

The contest started up in December 2010 and has already had several entries.

“We are a place for filmmakers to grow. In less than 5 minutes, you are challenged to think outside the box by incorporating seemingly unrelated ideas in your film,” says Camille Johnson, a member of the Hart House Film Challenge committee. “There are infinite paths that our entrants may take and it has been truly amazing to see their unique interpretations. We are all ecstatic about the continued response and the amazing submissions we have received. Keep them coming!”

In addition to the challenge itself, each video submitted is eligible for consideration to be screened at the UofT Film Festival. This year the festival is being held Wednesday March 23^rd, 2011 at Hart House.  Amazingly enough, all entrants thus far have qualified to be part of the festival.

The Hart House Film Challenge is always looking for new entrants as well as volunteers with any level of film experience.

For more information and to see submission videos, visit the Hart House Film Challenge’s website. For information on the UofT Film Festival and their 2011 program, check out their website here.

You’re at U of T and it’s bloody huge. Your classes are humongous and you’re wondering how you’ll ever manage to make friends to help you through your years here. Let me give you a word of advice from someone who’s almost at the end of her journey here: connect yourself with the people in your student unions. You don’t even have to part of a student union itself, but being part of their Facebook group is super cool and fun. So, before I begin, you might be wondering: what is a student union?

A student union represents students from a certain department, and members are elected by their peers. For example, students who are enrolled in a History class or a major/minor/specialist can vote for the executive members of the History Students Association (HSA). These unions and associations organize events, socials, conferences and aid in the process of the publication of undergraduate journals.

What are the advantages of getting involved in a student union?

• If you join the ListServe or the student union’s Facebook group, you’ll get news and updates regarding events that are being organized or lectures that might pique your interest. These events can help you network with profs and academics in your field of study, meet people with common interests or get free food.
• Your student union/association is also a link between you and your profs/department/departments at other universities. This means that they have all sorts of interesting information such as where to study if you want to go abroad and scholarship opportunities.
• Wondering what courses to take? Try talking to the execs in your student union! They got elected and they wanted to be elected because they wanted to get involved with other students. Drop by office hours, see if any execs are in your class, or send them a message on Facebook with any questions you might have! These students are often upper years with valuable experience and knowledge about the department and your subject POSt(s).
• Remember back in the summer when students got angry over the Dean’s decision to disestablish departments and shove them into a School of Languages and Literatures at U of T (SLLUT)? Student associations and unions were a rallying point for students who opposed the plan. These associations are your voice and they try to represent you when the university makes important decisions concerning your education.
• Being part of your student union’s executive committee can be an extremely rewarding experience. Have a conference idea or an idea for an awesome social? Try organizing it! As well, being part of an association helps you network with your professors and TAs, which will be super handy when you want to get reference letters for grad school.

So join the Facebook group for your department and/or go to a few events and maybe you’ll find your experience at U of T a lot more rewarding than you thought it would be. Remember, your education what you make of it; you might as well make it a good one.